Ohio charity removed from terrorist list

A now-defunct Muslim charity was removed from a U.S. government list of suspected terrorist organizations following a legal battle of more than four years.

KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development Inc., reached a settlement with the Treasury Department on Tuesday that would delete the Ohio-based group from the list and allow it to distribute nearly $1 million in funds raised for humanitarian causes, the Toledo Blade reported. KindHearts must remain dissolved, though its leaders can form a new organization.

The Toledo-based charity, which officially disbanded in February, essentially was shut down by federal agents in 2006 when the government froze its assets because of accusations that it funneled charitable money to terrorist groups, including the Hamas-affiliated Holy Land Foundation and the al-Qaida-affiliated Global Relief Foundation.

KindHearts filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Toledo in 2008 that challenged its inclusion on the list and asked that its assets be unfrozen.

The money raised by the group was collected originally for earthquake relief for Pakistan. Now it will be used to purchase food, school supplies and medicine for the needy in Pakistan, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, a charity leader told the newspaper.

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